While visiting China in September/November of 2008, we went to Guilin, went underground to the Reed Flute Cave, hiked the Dragon’s Back, cruised the Li River and spent two days in Yanghsuo.
Then we saw Zhang Yimou’s breathtaking staged production, the Impressions of Liu Sanjie, that I recommend to anyone visiting Southeast China.
Zhang Yimou, the director, is an internationally acclaimed Chinese filmmaker. He made his directorial debut in 1987 with the film “Red Sorghum”.
In the 1990s, Zhang Yimou directed “Raise the Red Lantern”—nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1991 Academy Awards.
The “Impressions of Liu Sanjie” is performed on the river at night. However, you may be more familiar with Zhang Yimou’s opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The “Impressions of Liu Sanjie” is performed with the Karst Mountains and the Li River as the setting.
The cast comes from the local Guangzi Zhuan Autonomous Region and many may be fishermen by day and actors at night and are from the Zhuang and Yao minority groups, who live in that region.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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Thhis is a great post
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you.